The Economy is in Trouble - What do we do to fix this? Ideas Welcome -

[Grace]

I hate walmart. Won't step inside one. Never spent a dime in one. Never plan to.

 

[ALocalWay]

I understand that my backwoods idealistic views seem unrealistic and unpopular - I know that when people see what I have to say they feel a burden placed on them and they do not want to feel responsible for their own choices - I felt the same way when I started this whole thing - I was gung-ho to buy local - and buy American - then I got to the store and I was dumb founded by the amount of time it took just to figure out where things come from - and just because they are made one place doesn't mean the company that owns them is from there. We are in a world market now and imports cannot be stopped - there are many things that are not made in the USA at all anymore. It is my goal to seek out specific ways to help local businesses keep money in their communities first and then help them be part of this world market instead of being eaten up by it. If communities share common goals and are better educated on the money that leaves - never to return - I feel they will work out different ways to stop the economic bleeding. No man is an island - his actions affect others - if we live in a community then it is our job and responsibility to make things better. There is always a way

 

[Grace]

Made in the USA Products Directory

American Made Products and/or Services Made in USA

Made in America | Products Made in the USA

Still Made in USA.com - American-Made Products for Home and Family

 

[B. Kidd]

The solution to the economic woes that face us is simple: get government out of the way. Cut spending, reform tax policy, stay the hell out of our health care. Stay out of our lives. People can take care of themselves.

PS : Despite what you may have heard, people really can take care of themselves. If they can't - well that's too fucking bad. That is what family, friends, and charity is for- to help the retards, mental defectives, and cripples. If you're not one of those - you shouldn't get shit. Welfare is a temporary program, not a goddamn lifestyle. Can't find a job? - tough shit. Move in with friends or buy a tent and a sleeping bag because you're gonna need it. Then pick up a mirror. Take a deep look into it so you know exactly who to blame for your life. Government is not your mommy. Get used to that fact.

So our Gov't is going to get our Gov't out of the way?
Is never gonna happen unless our Gov't completely collapses from the super-size weight of 40 years of micro-mismangement.

 

[ALocalWay]

I hate walmart. Won't step inside one. Never spent a dime in one. Never plan to.

You are the first person I have ever heard say that - good for you - they say they save a family an average of $2500 a year - but those walmart watchers repeatedly find prices the same or higher than competing stores - with a few exceptions to draw in the crowds. I know I can't put Walmart out of business - but they grow every quarter and have the worst health care plans for the majority of their employees and are a drain on the free public health care system. Walmart is the largest employer in the USA and they have had Washington's ear for a very long time - that's the scary part.

 

[B. Kidd]

You can identify in Wal-Mart those people who claim to never shop there.
They're the ones wearing the Groucho Marx nose glasses.

 

[ALocalWay]

If the People got their act together and flexed a collective economic muscle - that is the quickest and easiest way to get the governments attention.
The people showed their disapproval to the Coke manufacturers when the introduced " New Coke ". The response was quick and painful to Coke's sales. They company after spending millions to develope and market their new formula ( was sweeter to compete with Pepsi) - back to my point - after spending millions to get New Coke launched were forced to scrub the whole project and bring back Coke Classic. This is an example of how quickly companies will respond to a public demand - no protest needed.
sales go up for US products - they stock more - sales go down for imported junk - they stock less

 

[B. Kidd]

Hey, I'm on board ready to flex my part in the 'collective economic muscle'.
How 'bout you Huggy?

 

[ALocalWay]

Hey, I'm on board ready to flex my part in the 'collective economic muscle'.
How 'bout you Huggy?

Great! we need about another couple of million people to join in and start reading labels - lol

 

[sparky]

America is not in it's first economic downturn ALocalWay

In fact, many countries have experienced similar economic straights , both past and in present times

I say this because there's really little need to reinvent the economic wheel

One just needs to sniff out some of the economic history, as well as the economic fixes that have occured, and/or are ongoing....

There are a number of sources dedicated to monitoring, as well as mitigating the economic well being of countries in economic peril

we are far from alone , nor do we need go this alone....

 

[ALocalWay]

I have spent some time on that too - so I am glad you brought it up - the break down from what I read up on was We started out as an agricultural society - then we moved into a manufacturing society - when the great depression hit - people had agriculture to fall back on - After manufacturing left the US - we became a service society - Now that service jobs are leaving - manufacturing is already gone so what do we fall back on - farming? We live in a global economy now so how things rebounded in the past may not be how it happens in our future.

 

[rdean]

Single payer for health care to start off with. The VA has shown government can do a million times better than private insurance companies where a CEO can have a paycheck of $120,000,000.00 while not producing anything of importance simply by skimming insurance policies.

The VA spends 94 cents for every dollar on the patient. The other 6 cents going to administrative costs.

Show me how private industry can match that when they own private jets, eat off gold trim plates (Cigna) and can pass out a paycheck of more than $100,000,000.00!

Here is a real solution, one that will work. Yet we still have these right wing talking points - tell govt to get out of the way. Or "cut taxes for the wealthy because trickle down works".

Our government is not some shadow cabal made up of weird extremists. And "cut taxes for the rich" is a "one trick pony". One that has had it's day. Taxes are at a 60 year low. There was the Bush tax cuts. Then the Bush tax extensions. Hundreds of billion in tax cuts that were part of Obama's stimulus. The 12 largest companies get money back and the oil companies get billions in subsidies. When will this giant redistribution to the wealthy end? When we all live in cardboard boxes? The def is insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. Stop giving money to rich people who are taking it and "creating jobs" ---------------> in China!

 

[ALocalWay]

If there is a particular time in history I should be investigating - I would love for you to point me in the right direction - I do try my hardest to look for answers and bright spots - I realize that there are cycles the economy goes through - I am just seeing if there if a less painful way for our country to go through this down turn -
wall street is doing fine now and big business seems to be okay - but the middle class continues to shrink and might be baring the brunt of this -

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I wonder if the VA is as ruthlessly efficient as suggested?

 

[HUGGY]

Huggy - We agree on many things - but part of me feels that education is the key here - and if we cannot reach the American consumers - there are ways to relay the message to our ind business owners - consumers respond to marketing and convenience - most business owners understand where we are coming from but are unaware of the power of influence they hold in their communities. They are in the position to spread this message by posting one sign on an American product in their store that reads - Made in America - Bring Jobs Back - I believe something so simple could get people to start thinking about what they do with their money - Every little thing that I am working on is simple - free and plants a seed - I still believe that people want to do the right thing and if they understand the importance - things will change.

Too little...Too late. What is worse is that America gets by far the bulk of it's education from the very same forces that benefit from the chaos via the television and all of the other paid for media and advertising. All of this is sold in the name of free enterprise, our holy grail.

Since the Florida Supreme Court decision, in favor of Fox and Friends supporting their right to out right lie, the playing field has been tilted drastically in the favor of "for profit" information dissemination and delivery. It matters less and less each and every day what is taught in school when the "leaders" we have charged with oversight constantly drone what failure the education system offers.

I do indeed feel that we have allowed ourselves through ignorant partisanship and "progress through failure" espoused by the religious right to have crossed well over the line of no return.

Americans have been "taught" that they deserve all of their individual rights but owe nothing back to society for this privilege. They have been taught that to pitch in and help is optional. They have learned that selfishness is a right. This gives cover to all that prey upon the freedom of our system. We only prosecute crime when it can compete with Jerry Springer for headlines.

We rarely indict the largest fraud and theft. A few years ago the perpetrators of massive fraud were prosecuted. Now they are rewarded. Name one person involved in the recent biggest heist in human history that has been charged and is facing prison. Nada...zippola. What kind of a message does that shout to the hill tops? People can go to jail for un paid parking tickets or un paid debt when they honestly put their heart and soul into a business that fails. Yes America is being "taught" very well indeed.

The education you are dreaming of is being torn down as your hopes whisper into a howling hurricane of opposition.

We are a pack of wolves all caught in traps and gnashing teeth and biting off our own limbs so we can get to the ones that can't help themselves.

No... We are not worthy of prosperity. The once proud flock of eagles has transformed into a pack of cannibals, zombies, diseased rats and cockroaches.

 

[rdean]

I wonder if the VA is as ruthlessly efficient as suggested?

During the Clinton administration, the VA began a "data base". All treatments, medications and their results, operations and outcomes and so on are required to be entered in detail. When VA doctors prescribe a pharmaceutical or plan surgery, they have an enormous data base to draw on. This is why their success rate is so high. They have a very good idea of what works based on solid evidence.

They even do this for people with mental illness. Every kind of illness. This is one of the most brilliant things a president ever did. Under reported and over looked. Oh that "liberal media" always ignoring "liberal" accomplishments. Maybe that media isn't so liberal after all. If it had been, Iraq would have only been an "idea".

Data Resources in the Department of Veterans Affairs

Medical Surgical Prime Vendor Program and Standardization - National Acquistion Center

Pharmacoepidemiological Resources: Veterans Administration Databases

Of course, there are people who will try to drag down their good work because one of their many, many hospitals has mold. No program is perfect, but this one is very close.

Now, why don't health care companies use this data base? Think about it.

 

[ALocalWay]

Doom and gloom - this hopelessness is jarring - I will have to take a couple of hours and absorb it and gather my thoughts on the matter - maybe I am over optimistic about the American spirit - Does this leave things up to the government and big biz to decide our fate? I hate to say it - but my faith in both to do the right thing has all but expired. The only hope I had was in the American spirit being reignited for a worthy cause - to save themselves from being owned by a few rich and powerful. The people are all the people have left I am not ignoring the health care question - I just am not educated enough at this point to give an answer I feel would be relevant - the comments make sense as far as structure of the program the VA has in place - a completely goverment run healthcare system with no options may be a bit much for people to swallow after all the stuff in the bill about people getting treatment after a board decides that they are worth the treatment - due to age or whatever - something like if you are too old we won't treat you for cancer because you are going to die anyway - don't quote me - because like I said I really am just passing hearsay at this point and will look into it

 

[Wiseacre]

The American entrepeneurial spirit is alive and well thank you. But it needs a more conducive environment to thrive in, and right now such is not the case under Obama's mismanagement.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Reinstate PAYGO.

PAYGO required all increases in direct spending or revenue decreases to be offset by other spending decreases or revenue increases.

PAYGO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[AVG-JOE]

Doom and gloom - this hopelessness is jarring - I will have to take a couple of hours and absorb it and gather my thoughts on the matter - maybe I am over optimistic about the American spirit - Does this leave things up to the government and big biz to decide our fate? I hate to say it - but my faith in both to do the right thing has all but expired. The only hope I had was in the American spirit being reignited for a worthy cause - to save themselves from being owned by a few rich and powerful. The people are all the people have left I am not ignoring the health care question - I just am not educated enough at this point to give an answer I feel would be relevant - the comments make sense as far as structure of the program the VA has in place - a completely goverment run healthcare system with no options may be a bit much for people to swallow after all the stuff in the bill about people getting treatment after a board decides that they are worth the treatment - due to age or whatever - something like if you are too old we won't treat you for cancer because you are going to die anyway - don't quote me - because like I said I really am just passing hearsay at this point and will look into it

Thanks to you, me, and all the other reasonable voices on this board and others, the next 20 years are going to ROCK in spite of congress if not because of it.

Keep up the good threads and educate the partisan parrots on both sides of the aisle.